Jesus and Salvation

We all know "By grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast." (Eph 2:8-9). Good news. Saved by grace through faith, not by works. Good stuff. It's good because there aren't enough "good works" that we could perform to make up for our failures to obey God. So that's all good stuff. Still, for reasons that elude me, there are those who call themselves "Christians" who choose to opt out of this kind of "silliness" and go with a different approach. Some say they go with Jesus's approach. What did Jesus preach on salvation?

We first hear about "the gospel" in Matthew 4. Jesus came out of His temptation in the desert and "began to preach, saying, 'Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.'" (Matt 4:17). Mark refers to it as "proclaiming the gospel of God" (Mark 1:14) and expands His message to "The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel." (Mark 1:15). So, Jesus's original teaching on salvation was "repent" and "believe." Almost immediately after, Jesus follows that up with "Follow Me, and I will make you become fishers of men." (Mark 1:17). So, repent, believe in Christ, and follow Christ. That seems fairly straightforward ... until Jesus starts to flesh it out. First, what was this "gospel" that is required to believe? "God loved the world in this way; He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life." (John 3:16). Faith in Christ as the payment for our sins is the fundamental gospel that needs to be believed. Then, He told the Jews, "You do not believe because you are not among My sheep. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me." (John 10:26-27). Apparently, then, to accomplish that original "repent, believe, and follow" plan, you must be one of His sheep. Clearly you can't even believe if you're not one of His sheep. You can't "see the kingdom of God" if you're not "born again." (John 3:3). In fact, Jesus said, "The gate is wide and the way is easy that leads to destruction, and those who enter by it are many. For the gate is narrow and the way is hard that leads to life, and those who find it are few." (Matt 7:13-14). Not exactly an encouraging perspective. The fear is not that you won't find the road to heaven. The fear is that the road you think takes you to heaven is the wrong road ... and much more popular than the right one (cp Matt 7:21-23).

Looking further, what does Jesus say about following Him? He told a scribe who sought to follow Him, "Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head." (Matt 8:20). He told a disciple who wished to bury his father, "Follow Me, and leave the dead to bury their own dead." (Matt 8:22). He told His disciples, "Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword." (Matt 10:34). He went on to explain, "Whoever loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me. And whoever does not take his cross and follow Me is not worthy of Me." (Matt 10:37-38). Following Christ, then, has a high cost. The first cost is self.

So, according to Jesus, the cost is high and those who go are few. Does Jesus offer any insight to help us tell if we are among the "few"? He does. In that Matthew 7 text He talks about false prophets. "You will recognize them by their fruits," He says (Matt 7:16). He also says, "Every healthy tree bears good fruit." (Matt 7:17). In Matthew 13 He tells the parable of the sower (Matt 13:1-9) and explains it to His disciples. The difference between the "good soil" and the rest of the soils is that the good soil "bears fruit and yields, in one case a hundredfold, in another sixty, and in another thirty." (Matt 13:23). Bad fruit or even no fruit, then, puts one in the category of those outside of Christ. (What is fruit? See Gal 5:22-23; Php 1:22; Rom 1:13. See also Eph 2:10.)

We like that Ephesians 2 version of how we get saved. Just believe, right? Seems pretty simple. Let's go with that. Turns out Jesus's version isn't so simple. It is hard to find. It is not mainstream. It requires repentance. It costs everything. It requires divine intervention ("born again"). And even if you think you have all that, there must be real evidence. Jesus doesn't offer a "gentler, kinder" version for us to follow. He demands everything. Jesus isn't looking for the arrogant and self-satisfied. He's looking for the poor in spirit, those who mourn, the meek, those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matt 5:2-12). Interestingly, He's looking for those whom only He can make. We don't get there on our own.